Together In A Unforgiving World
by DeviousDots
Summary: One of my first fanfictions! It is Bethyl from the show "The Walking Dead". I hope you like it, but remember, you don't ship it, don't hate on it! Rated M for sexual content and language and some scenes might be intense. I love reviews, so feel free to send them in :3
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

"Come on Beth, we have to go... we have to go." Daryl pulled on my arm harder, and I could barely feel it. I took in the scene around me, the destruction, the chaos, and the walkers. The fence was tilted over, allowing more of the outside walkers in, the tank was on fire, thanks to Daryl's bomb. I couldn't see much with the smoke in the air and I couldn't hear well from the hungry growls from the walkers. I stood there, lost and dazed. Everything we had, was gone. The makeshift "rooms", the food, the people. Gone...

"BETH!" Daryl yanked one last time. His persistence snapped me out of my little daydream. Pulling my knife out, we ran towards an opening in the fence line, leaving the life that we created behind us.

* * *

Chapter 1:

We ran, and ran, and ran. Every time I thought about stopping for a break, a hungry growl, or an impatient sigh from Daryl pushed me forward. We didn't stop, not until we were far enough from the prison. The blasts from the tank, gunshots, and screams were enough to make every walker from at least a 10 mile radius turn their heads and stumble over. I've never seen so many of the dead in one place. It reminds me of back before the world went to shit, back in the days of school and reality. I was sitting in my science class, the book open in front of me. I read some where that a shark could smell blood for miles. I imagined the noise was like the blood for the walkers.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we stopped running. We plopped down in an open field, gasping for breath. We laid there for hours, or at least I figured we did. We watched the sun slither across the sky, going down, down, down. Finally, it was Daryl who got up first. He hoisted himself from the ground, glances around the area, and then mutters, "We better go, sun is going down." He began walking away, and after a deep sigh, I got up and followed after him.

An hour or so later, we stumbled on a small group of houses. They were spaced farther apart, a nice backyard, and cheerful colors painted on them. It would be a pretty little sight, if it wasn't for the abandoned cars parked out front, the creepy silence that filled the air, and the scent of loneliness in the air. "We should stay here for a night or two." Daryl muttered again. Internally, I sighed. The muttering is going to have to stop. "Let's stay here, it doesn't look half bad." I picked a house that definitely did look a lot better than the rest. It was painted yellow, with a white trim, a green door, and rocking chairs on the porch. The grass was overgrown, but some wild flowers grew among it, making it slightly more cheerful. We approached the house slowly, Daryl aiming his crossbow straight and my knife pulled out. With a slight nod to my direction, Daryl quietly opened the door, and peered in. After a few moments he whispered, "Looks clear for now."

We walked in slowly, taking in our surroundings. The living room was to our right, with a comfy little fireplace against the wall. To our left, a small kitchen painted a bright yellow. My stomach growled in response, but I couldn't help myself just yet. First, we have to secure the place. Daryl walked up to the larger staircase placed in the middle of the house. I walked through the kitchen, every now and then checking a cabinet. I saw boxes and cans, which is a hopeful sign. I walked around the corner, expecting a walker to pop out at me. Instead, I see a dining room table, with empty dishes in certain spots. Nothing for me to worry about. I circled around, and I ended up back in the living room. Daryl calls, "All is good up here!" I breathed a sigh of relief.

I heard his boots stomping around up there, so I took the time to take in my surroundings. Walking in to the living room, I observed the knick knacks on the mantle above the fireplace. It was your typical stuff, small vacation mementos and family pictures. From what I could tell, it was a happy family that lived here. A mom, a dad, an older boy, and a younger girl. Another picture revealed that they had two dogs, one that look like a lab and another one who looked like a golden retriever. A sudden pang of sadness hit me in my chest. This was a family. A happy little family. I wondered where they were now. Did they leave in a rush, is that why everything is still here? Or did they ever make it home? Overcome by sudden grief, I sunk into a nearby chair and started to cry. It hit me that I haven't cried yet about my father's death. The memory replayed over and over in my mind. I gasped little sobs, trying to control myself. I couldn't help it though, it was all so much.

Because of my crying, I didn't hear Daryl come downstairs. He stopped awkwardly in front of me and gave a little cough. I looked up, surprised. "I'm... I'm sorry..." I choked out. "It's all hitting me, everything that happened..."

Daryl wouldn't look at me. From the way I could see it, he was fighting back tears too. "Yeah.. yeah..." he muttered. "Don't worry 'bout it. I ain't the one to judge." He stood there for a moment. "I'm gonna look in the kitchen, see what grub we can find to eat. Ok?" I sat there and nodded. "Hey Beth..." he carefully took several steps towards me. He placed his hand on my shoulder. "It will be alright. I think the other's escaped too, and there is a good enough chance that we'll find them." He took his hand off my shoulder, and quickly left the room. "Typical Daryl," I thought. "Shows the least bit of affection, and then runs away."

About thirty minutes later, Daryl brings bowls of soup to the living room. I searched around the house and found some candles, which was good, since it was dark outside now. I sat down on the sofa, while Daryl sat in the reclining chair.

"Soup, huh?" I inquired.

"Yeah, there was several cans up there. Figured that would be a good enough meal for the night." he answered.

"Well, I appreciate it. Feels nice to have something in my stomach again."

"Mmmmm," is all that he said back. We ate in silence for a while. I tried to entertain myself by looking around in the house, but soon staring at the walls was driving me nuts. When the silence became unbearable, I asked, "Why are you being so quiet, Daryl?"

Daryl was quiet for a minute. "Cause," he said simply. "Cause they're ain't nothing to talk about."

I snorted. "Oh really? Our life didn't just literally get blown apart by some physco in tank, and everybody we cared about is dead or possibly dead? I think that's enough to talk about!" I snapped. Daryl shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it," he retorted back.

"But why?!" Hysteria broke through my voice. I wanted to talk, I needed to talk. My dad was dead, my sister might be dead. The baby I took care of for so long might be dead or taken by some crazy person. All the people I grew to love and have friendships with are missing. "How could you not want to talk about it?" I asked.

"Because Beth!" His voice suddenly got very loud and very angry. "Because! I don't want to! I don't want to cry, I don't want to think. All I want is for you to shut up and for me to get shitface drunk again!" He slammed his bowl down, bits of leftover noodles shot everywhere. Picking up his crossbow, I could hear him mutter "Pissing me off..." as he stormed out of the room and up the stairs.

I sat in silence. I didn't expect such emotion come from him. Hell, that's probably the most emotion I've ever seen Daryl show at once. I didn't bother to think about his feelings either... He had just as many friends as I did at the prison, he lost important people too. I let out a frustrated sigh. Setting my bowl down, I followed him up the stairs. Looking to the left, I saw him in the younger boy's room. He was looking at some comics stacked in the corner of the room. I knocked tentatively on the opened door. He looked up for a second, saw me, and put the comic back on the stack. He sat up, probably intending on leaving the room, but I stood in his way.

"Listen to me Daryl, please." I begged him. He looked in my eyes for a moment, and then backed up a couple of steps, crossing his arms. "Look, I'm sorry. I guess I was so wrapped up in every bad thing that happened to me, I didn't realize that maybe you are having problems too. So yeah, I'm sorry." I ended awkwardly. Daryl looked at me for a moment, then dropped his arms. I saw this grown man break down in front of me, from being a Mr Macho to scared little boy. He broke into tears, which flowed freely down his face. "I'm sorry Beth, I can't help but to..." his voice trailed off.

"But?" I asked, sitting next to him. I put my hand on his arm, which surprisingly he didn't shrug away.

"I can't help but to feel like it's my fault!" he yelled out. "I could have found him, I could have ended all of this before it ever started. Michonne and I could have looked more, until we finally found the stupid bastard! I feel like the prison and everybody we lost was all my fault, and I just can't stand it." His tears flowed more freely now.

I was stunned. Stunned for a couple of reasons actually. One, I've never seen so much emotion from Daryl. Two, I couldn't believe that Daryl felt like it was his fault. "Oh Daryl, it's not your fault. Please, don't blame yourself." I laid my head on his shoulder. "Honestly, because of you, so many people were saved. So many people were fed, and protected. We are lucky to have you." I made it a point to say "we are" instead of "we were".

He sniffed a couple of times. "Thanks Beth... you are a good girl." he leaned over, and for a second, I didn't know what he was doing, so when I felt his warm lips on the top of my head, I froze. He kissed me gently and quickly. After, he got up and said, "You can have the master bedroom. I'll sleep downstairs on the couch." He smiled at me, then headed down the stairs.

I sat on the small bed for a minute, trying to absorb what just happened. When I couldn't make sense of it in my head, I got up and left the room, went across the hallway into the master bedroom and slightly closed the door. I searched the drawers mechanically until I found a clean, comfortable shirt to sleep in. Slipping out of my dirty clothes, I put the clean one on and sunk into the bed. It was only a few minutes before I slipped into unconsciousness, but before I did, I couldn't help but to think one last thought... "I wish he would come up here instead."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The next morning, I was laying in bed, buried under the warm blanket. I shifted around in comfort, enjoying the rare luxory. Back at the prison, everybody would already be up. With the chores, watch tower duty, the kids, everybody had a job to do. Little baby Judieth would have been my responisbilty. Usually, she woke me up a little earlier than everybody else. She would softly cry, either wanting a bottle, comfort, or maybe even a new diaper. Although I wasn't prepared for an early motherhood, it made me happy for the responsibility for little Judieth.

But Judieth wasn't hear now. And honestly, the chances of me finding her ever again was slim to none. The reality of that hit me hard, and I could help but to let a few tears escape. Crying made me want to open my eyes, but the bright yellow sunlight was streaming through the window, so I flipped the pillow over and buried my face into the bed. I stayed like that for a while, not wanting to come out from my nest of blankets. It infuriated me that I could do nothing about it, that I felt so helpless, that I couldn't do anything. "This must be how Daryl felt yesterday," I thought.

Reality didn't leave me alone for to long. I heard a couple small raps on my door. I sat up in my bed, and asked, "Daryl?"

"Yeah, it's me... Can I come in?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, of course," I responded. He opened the door a tiny crack, and then pushed it in more. He walked in slowly. "Morning," he said.

"Good morning!" I chirped, trying to cover up that I was being emotional again. I didn't want Daryl to think that I had to be a complete baby that depended on him to function. I wasn't going to pull a baby Judieth.

"Ummm... Beth? You.. you should probably cover up some." he awkardly said, looking away quickly. I looked down at my bare legs. "Oh crap," I thought. I forgot that I went to bed last night with just a shirt and my panties on. I quickly pulled the blanket up over me, trying to not be to embarassed. "Sorry!" I squeaked out.

"Nah, it's alright." Daryl said. "Don't blush to hard," he winked. Blushing harder, I thought, "Oh, but I'm blushing because I liked that you saw me like this..."

Daryl coughed suddenly. I jerked my attention back to his face. "Umm well yeah, you were asleep for a while. Probably could have used it, you looked like hell yesterday. So while you were asleep, I made breakfast. If you want it, I'll be downstairs in the kitchen." His voice was in a rush to say it, and his body was in a quicker rush to get out of the room and down the stairs.

"Woops," I sighed. "My bad..." I got up quickly, then searched around the room for some better clothing and maybe a brush. Lord know's I needed it.

As soon as I got down the stairs, I quickly grabbed the can of peaches I was looking for. I took my pocket knife out of my pocket and skillfully jabbed it and took the filling out, emptying into some bowls. As much as I tried to keep my hands busy, I couldn't help but to think about her. "That damn girl!" I growled internally. "Woman," my mind corrected me. I know I shouldn't think about her in that way, but damn... I knew it was gonna get worse. Even when the prison fell to shit, when I saw her stumbling around. I had no idea where everybody else went. Who knows, they could have been dead for all we know. There was so much chaos everywhere. My mind was so scattered, my blood boiled. I wanted the govoner's head, and I wanted to wave it around proudly, to scream in victory. What he did to Hershal... Well, I will never forgive, even if he is dead.

I was surprised, usually when I'm angry, nothing stops me. All I want is to release the anger, in any way possible. I was pissed! But when that girl came out of the smoke, lost, confused, and scared, it felt like everything paused for a moment. I knew she was crying, the poor thing probably saw what happened to her old man. I instictively wanted to reach out, to grab her and embrace her. To make her feel better, to make her feel like somebody else was there. I didn't want to leave without her. She suddenly turned, and just stared off in the distance. I figured she was goin in shock, but I couldn't just leave her there to figure it all out. I yanked as hard as I could to get her back to reality, and finally she snapped out of it, and she ran off with me.

Daryl was so busy reliving his memories that the soft padding against the wooden stairs barely jolt him out of his thoughts. He quickly grabbed the can again, and tried scooping out the little remains of the peaches. While doing this, he glanced at the entering Beth, and marveled at her beauty. She cleaned up nice, she had new jeans on, a button up white shirt, and her hair was pulled back into a pony tail. How such a beautiful thing could be on this god forsaken planet, Daryl did not know.

"Hey you." she jabbed at me. "What's for breakfast?" She lightly sprang up and sat down on the counter, inches from me. "You look a hell of a lot better." she teased. She right of course, the more restful night made me feel a little more human. I found some clothes in a closet down stairs, they were packed away in some boxes. I found a better looking pair of jeans, a plaid shirt that didn't look to dumb, and nicer pair of boots in the bottom. Mine were so broken down from the run. Of course, my angel wings vest was still on. That baby ain't going nowhere!

Gathering my thougts, I grabbed a bowl and showed her. "Found some canned peaches in the pantry over there. And here's some oatmeal. Not the tastiest thing around, but it's better than nothing. We need to eat something good, we need to keep our strength up." She nodded in agreement and said, "Sounds good to me." I handed her the bowl, trying desperately to not look any more than I had to. I could tell by her confused expression that she did not understand. I felt bad, but it was probably for the best that she never knew more true feelings. It would just complicate everything.

We stayed in the kitchen, not bother with any chairs or manners. We ate greedily, enjoying ever last drop. I finished before her, and when done, I drop the bowl in the sink. While thinking about it, I said, "I saw a well outside the window when we were checking this place out. If it's clean, that will be mighty handy around here."

"Yeah, it would be," she nodded again. "We could use it for bathing, cleaning up. Cooking and and doing the dishes." She paused for a moment, and laughed. "Hell, we could make this a little home, right here for us!"

Shock coursed through my viens. I don't know why, but those words were so surprising. Did she suspect my true feelings? Is she just mocking me? My eyes got huge, and I felt a blush creeping up on my face. My look focused purely on her face, trying to understand.

She glanced up, still smirking. When she saw my look, the smile dropped off her face and she asked, "What? What's wrong Daryl?" Her look changed from amusement to concern.

"You... you mean.. you and I?" I stammered. I finally broke away the stare with Beth's face. I focused in on the closest thing that I could find: the empty bowls. "Umm, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, you confused me there for a second." I laughed a shakey laugh. Beth didn't look convinced, she still had that look on her face. "I'll be fine Beth, really." I grabbed my crossbow and headed out to the front door. I'm go for a walk for a bit, ok? Stay here, and don't let anybody in!" I slammed the door shut. I had to get away from it for a bit. From that damn girl!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Daryl walked down the street, moving his crossbow from one arm to the next. His eyes scanned the area, he didn't want any surprise vistors coming his way. He took as long as he could, going from house to house, killing a walker or two, taking some supplies as he found it. Luckily, he found a duffle bags in a nearby house. He took everything that could be useful. He even found a couple of small handguns with ammo. Of course, you don't go shooting to often, since it attracts the walkers nearby, but they were nice to have for emergencies.

Daryl kicked a rock out of his way as he walked down the road. Although he left to clear his mind, he couldn't help but to think about Beth. He felt a familiar blush on his face as he thought of his overreaction earlier. Maybe she has forgot about it by now. "Nah," he thought. "Beth ain't some dumb blonde, she wouldn't just forget."

He didn't know where his sudden attraction to Beth came into place. He suppose it started ever since they arrived at Hershel's farm. He noticed she was a pretty girl, but she was just a farmer's daughter back then. Hell, she hardly ever left the house. And besides, he was to busy looking for Sophia. He noticed though, when Beth was almost attacked by her dead mother, there was another side to Beth. She wasn't some ditz who didn't think. It hit her hard, and Daryl couldn't blame her. See Merle as a walker almost took him under. He remembered when he heard that Beth tried to cut her wrists. He wanted to rush over and take the glass away, to throw as hard as he could from her. Then all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and tell her it was all going to be ok.

He honestly thought the true attraction was when she had that little "boyfriend" of her's back at the prison, Zach. He saw her kiss him right before they left for a raid of supplies. Jealousy burned through him, and he honestly had to step away before he said anything. When Zach died, he felt terrible, because he was just a little bit glad. And when he told Beth about his death, she hugged him so tightly. He never wanted to let her go.

Daryl knew that Beth was a strong woman. She has suffered so much was this stupid outbreak. If she wasn't a survivor, she wouldn't have lasted this long. He gained a lot of respect for her over the past few months. And attraction. Being in this house with her alone isn't easy. He thought he blew his cover last night. The kiss was so random, he honestly didn't mean for it to happen. But he didn't think she took it as anything other than comfort. At least, he hoped so.

He must have walked faster when he was deep in thought, because the house was approaching quickly. He walked swiftly up the porch steps and called out, "It's just me, Beth." He definitely did not want to scare Beth to much. He opened the door and quietly shut it. Walking into the living room, he unloaded his spoils for the day. "Beth?" he called out louder.

Light footsteps came down the stairs. "Oh, hey Daryl. Sorry, I was sorting through some clothes I found. I found more clothes for you, if you like?"

"Umm yeah, thanks." he answered.

"I take it as you had a good walk." she noted. She crossed her arms delicately, smirking. He ignored her tease, and continued to unload the bag. "I found some meds, just simple stuff. But they are nice to have. Bandages, stuff to clean a wound. And here are so more cans, some houses still had some left in cabnets." he pointed to the food pile. "Oh, I also found some stuff you might like."

"Oh yeah?" she said. Daryl handed her some books, some big, some small. They looked pretty dusty and faded. "Where did you find these?" she wondered.

"This one house had a bookshelf in their living room. I thought maybe you would like it?" he looked up at her, worried. He kind of wanted to impressed her, but in a subtle way.

"Yeah, this awesome! I have missed reading so much!" her eyes lit up and she gripped the books tighter. "I want to start right now!" Daryl smiled, loving her enthusium. He never liked reading to much, it was just a waste of time for him, but there was something cute about Beth's passion. "You can read, if you want. I'm just gonna go outside and put up some better protection, just in case." Beth just nodded, and flopped down in the recliner, picking up the first book and was quickly absorbed in it. He smiled again, picked up some materials he needed, and walked away.

A couple hours later, Daryl came back inside. It was gonna be dark soon, his back was hurting, and he was drench in sweat. He figured he could wash up a little and talk to Beth about what to do for lunch. He was starting to get real hungry. Walking in, he saw that Beth was still in the same chair. He busted up laughing and Beth said distractledly, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just laughin how you are still sittin there with that book." he replied. He saw down on the couch next to her, watching her eyes go left to right over and over. "It's a good book, you should try reading it sometime." she stuck her tongue out.

"What's it called anyways?" he asked.

"It's called 'To Kill A Mockingbird. It's about an innocenct black man who is on trial and the racism he get's from the townfolk." She smiled and put the book down in her lap. "Have you ever read it?"

"Nah, I don't read much. But.. maybe you could read some to me?" he asked, hopeful.

"Hmmm... sure, I would love to. Let me pick up where I left off." She picked her book up and fiddle around with it for a while, finding her place. Eventually, she found it and began to read: _That was the only time I heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. When he gave us our air-rifles Atticus wouldn't teach us to shoot. Uncle Jack instructed us in the rudiments thereof; he said Atticus wasn't interested in guns, Atticus said to Jem one day, 'I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'_

_That was the only time I heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.'Your father's right,' she said. 'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'_

Daryl shook his head, confused. "That doesn't make any sense. What does shooting a bird have to do with racism on a black man?" he asked. Beth laughed, and said, "It makes better sense when you have read the book." she smiled. "Maybe one day, when we aren't running for our lives, I'll let you borrow it." I smiled back. "Sounds nice." I looked at her, and for a moment, I felt like I couldn't leave her stare. Her smile was so nice, full of life and energy.

It was her who broke the silence. "Well, I was thinking about dinner." she said. "By the looks of it, you should go wash up, and while you do that, I'll make something to eat. That sound ok with you?" she asked.

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I don't look very nice." We chuckled, and I rose from the couch. Before I walked away, Beth said one last thing. "I found a bucket from the garage. I used it to get some water from that well. I put it upstairs in the bathroom."

"Thanks!" I said warmly, and headed up the stairs. Entering the bathroom, I washed my face off. "Hmmm.." I thought. "Maybe I can look a little better for her tonight. We can have a little date night." I smirked.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

There wasn't much to work with for dinner. Everything was in a can, and can foods could drive Beth up the wall by now. But with supplies being so limited, they had to deal with what they had. Beth started making a dinner with some canned soup they had. It was the classical chicken noodle soup, but Beth added a can of green beans along with it. She found some plates in a cabnet abve the stove, so she carefully divided up the food for the two of them. Setting the plates to the side, she searched the drawers for some silver ware.

A little cough scared the crap out of her. She yelped, and jumped nearly out of her skin. Because of her little freak out, she lost her footing, and landed on her ass in the middle of the kitchen. She then heard a male voice laughing hysterically. She glared up and saw Daryl, using the counters as support as he continued to laugh hysterically. "This isn't funny, Daryl!" she scolded. She crossed her arms and continued to glare up at him.

"I'm sorry," he wheezed out. "But that was the funniest shit that I've seen in a long time." He chuckled a few more times, and then straightned up, wiping the corners of his eyes. He reached over and offered his hand to help her up. She glared at his hand for a few seconds, then sighed, and took his offer. He lightly brought her up to her feet, and Beth was surprised at how strong Daryl is. Of course, Beth figured she was probably very light in the weight department, but still.

"What's for dinner?" he asked nicely. Beth handed him a plate and said, "Well, I fixed some chicken noodle soup with some green beans. I figured that's probably as fancy as we are gonna get." She reached up and grabbed a box of crackers from the cabnet.

"Sounds delicious actually. It will feel like a home cooked meal for once." He answered. Beth started to walk towards the living room, but Daryl reached over and grabbed her arm first. "Umm Beth? Could we maybe sit in the dining room tonight?" he asked. Beth was surprised, she didn't know why Daryl was trying to be formal for tonight's dinner. But her curiousity got the better of her, so she answered back, "Sure?" They walked together into the dining room. Daryl chose a seat at the end of the table, and Beth hurried to sit down next to him. As they began to eat their food, Beth looked up curiously and asked, "So the dining room, huh?"

Daryl didn't look at her for a bit. He focused entirely on his food, and Beth felt fustrated. Why would Daryl invite her to eat with her in a more personal enviroment and then ignore her? Besides, he looked a hell of a lot nicer. He cleaned off the sweat and dirt from being outside all afternoon, and he put on fresh clothes even. He wore a button down shirt, the sleaves rolled up to his elbows. Clean blue jeans and his boots looked like they were wiped clean from the mud and other gunk on it. Beth suddenly realized, "Is this like a date?" Her heart felt like it skipped a beat, and she tried to nonchaltely push her hair back a little, to make herself look a bit more appealing.

Daryl's voice interrupted her silent thought. "Well.. Beth, I wanted to talk to you. I know it's probably dumb, but.. I have to tell you something."

"Yeah?" Beth was dying to know more. Daryl looked down at his food, took a deep breath, and then looked up at her. Beth has never seen Daryl so nervous before. This man went up against the govonor, his own brother, and herds of walkers and had more confidence than this. Something had to be up.

"Beth, for a while now, I really like you. I don't know where it came from, and I know it's probably wrong of me. You probably think of me as some old guy that is handy with a bow, but.. I don't know dammit, you make me feel so much more than that. I love being around you Beth and I figured since we are alone for now, you might as well know, so I don't confuse you anymore. "He said all of this in a quick rush. He stood up quickly, not being careful with his movement. "I'm sorry, this was so dumb. I'll leave you alone." He almost ran out of the dining room.

I sat in bewilderment. I didn't know what to do first; Act like a little girl and squeal, or try to be chill about it. Should I give him space, or should I go talk to him? After a few minutes, I summoned the courage to go find him. I left the dishes on the table and exited throught the kitchen. I walked into the living room, and was relieved to find him in the recliner, even though he was pointing his bow and shooting at random spots on the wall. I walked slowly to him and said, "Daryl?"

"Hmmm?" was all his response. He ignored my gaze and continued to shoot. I stepped in front of him catuiously, so he would have to look at me. That did no help, although he did put his bow down. He still looked away from me. "Daryl," I started off with. "Daryl, it's ok. I'm glad you told me."

"Why would you be glad?" he muttered rudely. I chose to ignore his rude behavoir and continued. "Because Daryl, I like you too." I lowered my eyes a bit, suddenly shy. He laughed harshly and said, "Why would you like me Beth? What do you see in me?"

My eyes snapped up to his face again. "Well Daryl, since you are going to be so immature about things, I guess I'll have to spell it out for you. I like you because you are sweet and caring. You are a protecter, and for that reason, I have to say thank you for saving my ass out there so many times. If it wasn't for you, I would be some walking corpse now." He flinched at my harsh words, but I ignored them. "I feel safe with you. I have never felt more safe, not even at the prison. Not even at my own house back at the farm!"

He didn't look at me, but I wouldn't back down. I crossed my arms again and glared at him, waiting for a response. After a while, he said, "What would your family think? Wouldn't they be angry that their perfect famer's daughter be hooking up with some random older guy?"

I nearly screamed in fustration. How could he turn possibly one of the greatest things I have ever heard into such a damned thing? "Daryl!" I nearly screeched. "Almost everybody in my family is DEAD." I emphasized the last word. "The only one I might have left is Maggie, and I don't even know where she is! Do I look like I give a damn what they think?"

Daryl finally looked up at me. He stared at my face for a while, and then suddenly, he was standing up, his powerful hands locked on my arms. His penatrating glare didn't leave though, he still looked up at me with the same powerful look. He exhauled slowly and said, "I'm sorry, I just... can't show my feelings well. I know, that is a poor excuse, but I hope you can forgive me?' He lowered his face closer to mine, and I felt like my mind was swimming around. "Of course I can Daryl," I said breezily.

His face, now inches away from mine, slowly leaned in. "Good," he said. "Good, because I really want to do this.." He lightly pressed his lips on mine, and my whole brain felt like it was going to burst from my head. I couldn't think, I couldn't rationalize. All I could do was act, and I sure did act. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and his hands traced down my arms, down to my lower back. He pressed me tightly to his body, and we kissed. For how long, I'm not sure. I lost track of time.

He slowly leaned away from me, still holding me just as tightly. Not saying a word, he walked over to the couch, laid down, and gently pulled me on top of him. I snuggled up to him on instinct, and I breathed the warm scent of his, rough and slightly woodsy. I felt his lips press against my hair lightly, and felt him take a deep breath. We stayed quiet for a while, but then I asked, "Daryl?"

"Mmmm?" he mummured sleepily.

"How long have you liked me?" I asked. I kept looking forward, my shyness was in full effect. Daryl didn't answer for a minute, and I was afraid he might have fell asleep. But then he said in a thick voice, "It's been a while Beth. You've had my attention for a while." He pulled me tighter against him, and I shut up, figuring that this could be answered at a later time. We curled up together, using our body heat as warmth, and I quickly fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Daryl shifted around in his sleep, breathing in deeper. Beth was still laying on top of him, and she stifiled a giggle. Daryl was pretty restless when he slept, and quite a snuggler. Beth wouldn't have guessed that about him. She had been awake for about an hour now, the sunlight coming through the windows woke her up. For that hour, she listened to the pretty songbirds sing and Daryl's sleepy breathing, careful to not move and wake him up.

Daryl started to roll over to his side, and Beth was pushed down deeper in the couch, and Daryl snuggled her into his chest. Beth couldn't help it, she giggled quietly, She quickly shut up, and looked up at Daryl's face. He breathed deeply, and slowly opened his eyes. It took a second for him to focused, and then he saw her face. The stared at each other for a minute, not saying a word. Then Daryl leaned to her face, ran his fingers through her hair, and kissed her. He wasn't as rough with her as he was yesterday, but he still had that same sense of intensity. What seemed like forever, he finally pulled away. He smiled, and said, "Good morning."

Beth had to remember how to breathe. She has never had a kiss like that. Jimmy and Zach were never the best kissers, and Beth loved how.. experienced Daryl was. "Good morning," she replied. Daryl rolled back over on his back, bringing her on top of him. "How long have you been awake?" he asked.

"Not to long. Was just watching the sunrise." she looked outside the window. The sun was up by now, and for a moment, she forgot that she was in a post apocolypic world. Being here with Daryl, it made it feel like there was a sense of normaility. It was such a good feeling.

Of course, the peace didn't last forever. It typically never did. As they sat there together, a sudden bang made them jump. Bang! Bang! Bang! At first, Beth thought it could be the sound of somebody banging there fist on the door, and she felt her blood run cold. Maybe it was a person nearby? Or was it somebody from the govonor's group? She looked at Daryl, terrified. Daryl went into action quickly, grabbing his bow laying nearby and stood in a defense position. He crept to the door silently, careful to not alert the intruder. He glanced at me and I knew what he wanted. Grabbing one of the handguns in the bag he brought home, she took position behind him, ready to shoot in case things got nasty.

We were almost to the door when I heard it. A low growl. I almost burst into laughter. It was just a walker. We could easily take down one of those, especially if it is just one. Daryl still looked focused, going in his "hunter positions". He put is hand on the doorknob, and slowly turned the doorknob. Opening the door, two walkers tumbled through.

"Shit!" Daryl cried. He flattened himself to the wall, and I jumped back, barely avoiding a walker grabbing ahold of my shirt. I glanced up and almost screamed. The walker closest to Daryl had ahold of his jeans, and Daryl couldn't shake him loose. Meanwhile, the female walker next to me was crawling at a alarming rate towards me, snapping it's rotting teeth. I couldn't use the gun, I didn't know if there were anymore out there. I pulled the knife that I always kept in my boot out, and quickly acted. I grabbed ahold of the walker's hair and pushed the knife through the skull. It let out a low groan, and then slumped to the floor. I tried to pull my knife back out, but it was lodged in there pretty good.

I glanced up and Daryl still hasn't shot the walker at his feet. That walker was more fercious, and Daryl had to keep his foot in constant motion to keep from being bitten. He couldn't get a clear shot. All of this ran throught my mind quickly, and in instict, I stood up, ran to him, and kicked as hard as I could to the walker's head.

The force must have been stronger than I thought, because the walker's head smashed into the door, causing it to let go of Daryl's leg. Using his moment of freedom, he shot a bow clear in the temple of the walker. We stood there quietly, waiting. If there was any more of them, the sounds of the struggle would have alerted them. After a minute, Daryl peaked his head out of the door frame and looked around. "Nothing," he said.

I finally let out a deep breath. I slumped against the wall, barely having energy to keep myself up. I wiped my cheek and to my digust, some drops of walker guts wiped away. I probably looked like a mess.

Daryl was across from me, leaning on the wall like me. He looked at me admiringly, and I snorted. "Don't tell me you find this attractive. Or I might be worried about your sanity."

"Well, the blood doesn't really do it for me, but a girl who can kick ass surely does." he winked. I rolled my eyes.

"We should move these things out." he nodded to the dead walkers.

"Yeah... you know, I have an idea for them." I said suddenly. He looked up with interest. "What if we do something like Michonne did?" I pressed on. "Use their bodies and a kind of cover up?"

He thought for a bit, then nodded. "Yeah, it might keep some other walkers away. It might attract the attention to somebody alive though." he said in a serious tone. I shrugged at his comment. "Nah, I wouldn't go messing around a place with dead bodies lying about." I pushed myself off the wall and went to retrieve my knife. I put my boot on the walker's head and pulled with all my might. Finally, the knife was freed. I wiped it on the walker's shirt.

As I turned around, Daryl grabbed my hand. I imidieately froze, not sure on what to do. He leaned forward and kissed me lightly on my lips, and then pulled back. "You know," he smirked, "I like doing this." He grabbed the first corpse and dragged out the door. "Don't worry about doing this, I'll be alright. You clean up."

"Aww well thank ya doll," I said in a exxergerated southern accent. I turned up to the stairs and walked up. The bathroom was right at the top of the stairs thank god, so I quickly used some of the water to rinse my face off. Ugh. I look like I just came back from battle. My face has sunken in a bit, and the smears on my face didn't help. What the hell did Daryl find so attractive about me?

I heard the door close gently, so I figured Daryl must have put the bodies outside. I peeked out the door way and I could see Daryl inspect his shirt. Dragging the bodies had left their mark on him, he shirt was filthy. He shrugged, and casually unbuttonned it, revealing a toned chest and abs. I stood there in awe, unable to look away.

He must have felt my stare, because his eyes rose to the top of the stairs and caught me looking. He winked and I slightly bit my lip. Smirking, he crossed over to the living room, dropping the shirt behind him. I leaned against the wall for a second time today, and chuckled at myself. "What am I going to do with him?" I thought..


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

It was getting later, but Beth could not fall asleep. She didn't know why, but her mind was every where else. Well, mostly on Daryl. But on other things too. She thought about her father. The pain didn't really go away. It was just a lower dose. She wished he was he now. He was always there for her. Sure, he wasn't the greatest dad. He was drunk most of the time. But Beth knew that he loved her and Maggie very much. Not having him here... well, it was unbearable. She missed Maggie too. Sure, Maggie was the annoying big sister at times, but she often had really good advice for her. She wanted to confront Maggie about this whole Daryl situation. Maggie would know what excatly to do or say.

Her mind wondered elsewhere. She missed Rick, Lori and Carl, T-Dog, Andrea, Michonne, and Glen. She especially missed Judith. They were her family at this point. When she first met them, she didn't know what to think. They were just complete strangers from the outside world that her father tried so hard to protect her from. But because of Carl's injury, she quickly got to know Rick and Lori. She absolutely loved Lori. She was a strong woman, the force behind her husband and son. She was like Maggie in a sense, a good person to talk to. Maybe that's why she loved to take care of Judith so much, it was a connection to her friend.

She tossed and turned in her sleep, unable to getting in a comfortable position. She went from her laying on her tummy, to her side, to flat on her back. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She sat up in her bed and pushed the blankets back. Her bare legs shone in front of her, and she ran her hands down them. She giggled at the goosebumps that showed up. Beth sighed, and then figured she might as well give up. It was clear that she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

She pushed herself off the bed and walked to the door. She wondered if Daryl was still up. Maybe they could talk for a bit, maybe she can get some of this off her chest. After they ate dinner, they hung out in the living room. The previous owners of the house left quite a lot of junk lying around, and it amused them to look through the stuff. At first, Beth felt guilty. It felt like she was an intruder, but she had to remember, the owners weren't hear anymore. Hell, they were probably dead.

Beth walked down the stairs slowly. She had to be careful, it was dark, and she couldn't see very well. Turning left at the foot of the stairs, she peeked in the living room. Daryl was awake and didn't hear her surprisingly. At first, she couldn't tell what he was looking at, but then saw a book in his lap. She nearly gasped, it was _To Kill A Mockingbird, _the book she has been reading. She smiled and stepped lightly to his chair. She coughed softly, and Daryl jumped.

"Oh," he said when he saw her face. "Umm hi.." he said awkwardly.

"Like the book?" she asked with a smile on her lips.

Daryl blushed and closed the book. He sat it in his lap and then looked up at her again. "Umm yeah, I like it. Kinda hard to read, but it's alright."

Beth walked over in front of him, still smiling. "Yeah, it takes a while to get used to it. But it really is a good book. It teaches morals. And in this world today, morals are hard to come by." she said, with a trace of sadness in her voice.

Daryl reached out and put his hands on her hips. Beth felt her heart flutter slightly, and instantly her stomach erupted in butterflies. "I can hear the sadness in your voice, darling. Don't be sad." his eyes shone up at her. Beth never realized how beautiful his eyes were. They were a beautiful dark green, and in the moonlight, they sparkled.

"I'm sorry, I guess I've been pretty bummed out lately." she said, trying to not stare into those eyes to much. Daryl smiled and said, "Well, I guess we have to fix that, now don't we?" He pulled her up into his lap, until she was straddling his lap. Beth let out a surpsied gasp, not sure what he was trying to do. Daryl snickered and kept his strong hands on her hips.

"Daryl, what the hell?!" she gripped on to his sleeves, she felt like a little kid, and for a moment there, felt foolish for her overreaction. She loosened her grip on his sleeves, but still felt scared. This is the closest thing to sexualness she has ever done with somebody before.

"Sorry baby girl, but now that I have admitted my feelings, and you seem to feel no abrasion to it, I can't help but to show how i feel to you." he smiled, and he leaned in and kissed on her neck, slow and passionate.

Beth forgot how to breath for that instant, and instead, just clung on to him and enjoyed the sensations she was feeling. Every nerve felt like it was on fire, and every touch Daryl made felt like she was sent into overload. Daryl seemed to like this reaction, because he picked up the pace with the kissing and gripped his hands tighter on her. Beth let out a low moan, which completely embaressed her.

Daryl paused for a moment, and then leaned back in his chair. Beth let out a protesting wimp, and he chuckled. "Sorry baby girl, I forget my manners. I should probably wait until I'm for sure that you want me." He ran his hand from her waist back down to her hips, and Beth felt those familiar goosebumps come back again.

"Is there anything you want to talk about? Surely you came down here for another reason other than to spy on me." he smirked.

"Not really I guess," I sighed. "Just couldn't sleep. To much on my mind.."

"What's on your mind? You know you can talk to me about it, if you want." he offered.

I shook my head. "Nothing, I just miss everybody. Even the people we lost long ago. I know it sounds dumb, but they were family to, you know?"

He nodded. "Makes sense. I miss people too. I miss... Dale, and Andrea. I miss your dad.. I miss little Ass Kicker and Rick for sure." I giggled, remembering his silly nickname for Judith. It was so silly back then, but somehow cute now. "Maybe we'll see her soon," I said unhopefully.

He nodded. "Anything else you want to talk about?" he asked. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in tighter to his chest. I laid my head down, listening to his heartbeat. Suddenly, a question popped in my head. I battled internally, trying to decide if I should bother asking it or not.

"Beth? Did you fall asleep?" I giggled, cause I asked the same thing last night, right before we went to bed.

"Can I ask you something?" I said shyly.

"You can ask me anything," he smiled. He squeezed her body for a moment, then let go.

"Well... why are you so affectionate towards me? Before now, you were Mr. Rought and Tough, avoiding everybody and not having much interaction with people. What changed?"

Daryl didn't say anything for a moment. He rubbed small circles with his thumb on her back. Well, truth be told... you would be the only one I would ever do this for. Beth hunny, you have to understand, I grew up in a loveless childhood. Neither one of my parents really loved me, Merle couldn't care less about me, and I had nobody else. Of course, being older, I had a few one night stands. But they were just that, a quick release. You came along though, and I guess I realize now what I could have, a woman like you." he smiled.

"Hmmm," I murmured. On the inside, I was squealing. But I tried to play it cool. Daryl sighed, and looked out the window. "It's getting late baby. Aren't you tired?" he asked.

I tried to conceal my yawn, but failed horrible. "Aren't you tired?" I asked, avoiding his question. He laughed and said, "Yes, I am. Sleep with me again?" He asked with those adorable hopeful eyes.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. Daryl picked me up lightly, carrying me like a princess. He looked down at the couch and then looked back at me. "Would you like a little more room tonight?" he asked with a michievious smile. I nodded, to nervous to speak. Daryl Dixon, in my bed! Of course, we were just sleeping together, but still.. My mind wondered to other thoughts.

Daryl climbed the stairs easily, nudge the door with his foot, and crossed over to the bed. He gently laid me down and then did the same, covering us up with the blanket. I snuggled to him, enjoying his warmth. He laid his arm around me, pulling me closer to his chest. He rested his head right above mine, and I could feel his deep breathes going down my neck. I sighed and nuzzled him. Unlike last time, I was able to fall asleep in minutes.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

They have been living together for a week now. Every day, it felt like they were slipping into more of a domistacted lifestyle. They explored the area of the subdivision for a few days, taking in points of interest and jotting them down on some paper they found back at the house. There was a pond up the road, sitting right in the middle of the subdivision, and it was full of fish. Beth noticed there was other wildlife around it, some turtles, deer, and many kinds of birds. It seemed like a little safe heaven for the animals. In fact, the whole subdivision seemed like a safe heaven for them.

Other than the pond, they found an office building, which had more supplies. It even had a garage attached to it and had three golf carts. In the closet, the found several things of gasoline. The office building had a kitchen attached to it, with lot's of can foods and boxes. Another well behind the building and from what Daryl could tell, the water was clean.

The subdivision was gated off, but the main entrance was in a pretty rough shape. They found some scraps of metal near the entrance, and if they had more manpower, the figured they could fix up for some protection. Unfortuanlly, they did not have the people around.

"Daryl, should we let people in our subdivision?" Beth asked worringly. "I'm mean, if it was anybody that we know, of course we would. But what about.. new people?" she bit her lip out of worry.

Daryl stared down at her face. "Hey now girl, don't bite that lip. Makes me want to bite it." Beth giggled and pushed him away. "Focus Daryl!" Beth scolded. "Seriously, what do you think?"

They walked for a few minutes. Daryl had his thinking face face, so Beth knew not to interrupt him. He suddenly stopped and turned straight at Beth. His hands scooped her up in a tight embrace and he kissed her. It was hot and intense, his lips wasting no time on getting what he wanted. He parted her lips slightly and licked her bottom lip. This new sensation for Beth made her feel like she was on cloud nine. "Daryl..." she moaned.

He let out a feral growl, and his hands traveled down from her face to her stomach, her hips, and down to her ass. "Beth.. I will never let somebody hurt you.." he purred into her ear. He cupped his hands around the curve of her ass, and gripped hard, moaning a little. "Fuck Beth... If we keep this up, we are gonna have to go back to the house."

Beth blushed. She pushed him off of her and stuck her tongue out at him. "Well then sir, I guess we should hurry up then." she winked. Thankfully, they were a very short distance from the house. He scooped her up in his arms and Beth laughed like a child on Christmas. It has been a long time since Beth had felt so happy before, so carefree. Daryl carried her back to the house. Stepping through the little fence gate, he carried her up the porch. He lightly put her down and opened the door. "Ladies first," he grinned.

Beth grinned back and stepped through the doorway. She was about to turn around and ask him which way to go, but before she could say anything, she was again scooped up by his strong arms and was carried up the stairs. Daryl must have been getting excited, because he took the stairs by two every time. Not bothering to be slow or romantic anymore, he kicked the door opened and plopped her on the bed.

They didn't say anything for a moment, just staring out each other's eyes. Daryl ran his fingers through her hair, and then smiled down at her. It was a true smile, out of love and happieness. Not his usual smirk or sarcastic grimance. He shrugged out of his vest, letting it drop on the ground. He then unbuttoned his shirt, one by one. Beth bit her lip, the anxiety of finally seeing him shirtless bubbling in her stomach. He undone the last button, and the shirt too fell to the floor. He was standing there shirtless in front of her, the sunlight bouncing off of him.

He placed his hands gently on Beth's shoulders and pushed her back slowly. Her back hit the blankets, and Daryl crawled on top of her, kissing her lips gently. She ran her hands up his arms, admiring all the muscles that popped out. Her hands followed the curves of his shoulders and up on his neck, to then knot in hair. This action only seemed to turn Daryl on more, and he was more aggressive with his kisses. They kissed more now, hungry for each other. Beth's hands went down his neck again and to his shoulders. They were just about to go down his back when suddenly, Daryl's mood shifted. He grabbed her hands and pinned them down to the bed, and stopped kissing her. He was breathing heavy and for a moment, looked scared.

"What's wrong baby?" she whispered.

Daryl breathed a couple more times. He wouldn't look at her, was just looking down at the bed. Then he looked up to her eyes. "Nothin babe.. just... I have trust issues."

"Baby, you can trust me." Beth was slightly offended, although she knew she shouldn't be. Daryl loosened his grip on her wrists, and slumped over to her side. He looked at her and said in a serious tone, "I don't show many people this." Before Beth could react, he slid off the bed quickly and showed her his back. Up and down there were scars, it looked like somebody had taken a whip to his back. Beth ran her fingertip down one particular one, it was the biggest of them all. "Oh Daryl.." she said softly. "How did this happened?"

Daryl turned back around and held her in his arms. "Just my dad being an asshhole, that's all. It's been so long, I should have forgotton by now... but they are like cruel reminders." His hard smile came back, and Beth felt her heart break.

"I'm sorry baby." she whispered. She kissed him and he kissed her back, hard and emotiontionless, but he finally melted and kissed her back. He paused for a moment and asked, "Well since I'm shirtless, can't you be too?" he smiled.

"I... I guess so." she stammered. Her heart pounded in her chest, adrenaline pumping through her.

"It's ok, we don't have too. I was just teasing love." He ran his hand down her cheek. Beth shook her head axiously. "No, I want to. I really do!" Before he could say anything, she lifted the shirt over her head.

There she was, little Beth Greene, farmer's daughter, sitting shirtless in a man's lap. She blushed, and looked down at her hands, trying to keep them from shaking. Daryl grabbed her hands and brought them up to his lips, kissing them like a gentleman does. "Don't be scared baby, you are beautiful to me." he murmured against her skin. He reached around and undid the clasp of her bra and let it fall to her lap. He cupped her breasts in his hands, rubbing them in small circles. Her nipples hardened by his touch, and Daryl moaned under his breath. He looked up at Beth's face and could tell that he was taking it to far. "Do you want to stop hunny?" he asked.

Beth nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm sorry, this is just to much for me right now.." she whispered. Daryl nodded back and immideately slid her off his lap and into the bed. He covered her up and kissed her forhead. "Don't be sorry babe, it's me who should be sorry. I took it to far." he kissed her one more time. "I'll leave you alone. I'll be downstairs if you need me."

Beth sat up in a panic. "No, please don't leave me." she grabbed his hand and started to pull. "I still want you to sleep with me. Please?" She looked up at him with the best puppy dog eyes she could do.

He laughed and admitted defeat. He crawled back in bed with her, opening his arms to her. Beth gladly took the invatation and snuggled deeply into his warm chest. He kissed the top of her head and laughed. "What am I gonna do with you woman?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Daryl was packing a small bag for him and Beth. They were going on a raiding trip, to a small drugstore not to far from here. They were running low on food, and this drugstore might have what they need. He glanced over to Beth, who was tying up the laces for her boots. He smiled at her, and asked, "You all ready?"

"Yeah, just making sure they are tied tight. Would hate for untied shoelaces be the cause of my death." Beth laughed. She double knotted the laces and then stood up, grabbing her knifes and handgun. She put the biggest knife on her hip and the handgun on the other side of her hip. She stuck the two smaller knifes inside her boots. "Alright, I think I'm good to go!" She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Daryl lightly on the cheek. "You got everything ready with the bag?' she asked.

"I think so. Some snacks for the walk out there and the other gun. Should be all that we need." he said roughly. He picked up his bow and headed out the front door. Beth walked out to the front porch and took a deep breath. The early morning sun was rising above the horizon, and it illuminated the area around them. She glaced up and down the road and sighed in content. Not a walker to be seen.

Daryl closed the door hard and secured the lock with a key they had found in the master bedroom. "Probably won't stop a human from getting inside, but it will stop walkers for sure." he thought. He turned to Beth and asked, "You ready?"

Beth nodded, and together they walked down the path and on to the road. They walked at a good pace, always keeping a look out for any activity. They walked for a while, not saying much. The sun continued to rise, and the rays beat down on their heads. After a while of taking this, Beth stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Daryl, can I have a drink real quick?" Daryl turned around and nodded quickly, pulling the backpack over his shoulder and handing it to Beth. She dug around in it for a moment, and then pulled out a bottle of water. She drank thirstly, spilling some of the water on her shirt.

"Hey now, girl, you better watch it." Daryl said, eyeing the water droplets rolling down her neck and into her shirt. Beth realized what Daryl was staring at and snorted, water spraying everywhere.

"Fuck Daryl!" she laughed. She lightly dabbed her skin with the tip of her shirt and gave him a scolding look. "You shouldn't stare at such a poor defenseless woman, you know. Damnsal in distress and all." She pretended to faint and leaned against Daryl's shoulder.

"Well, if you weren't such a beautiful damnsal, I wouldn't have to look so much." he commented. He took her by his hand and twirled her around into his arms and held her there. She smiled and Daryl took that as an invatation. He kissed her, starting at the corner of her mouth and right to the center of her lips. He gently bit her bottom lip, and Beth giggled.

"Such a naughty boy." she whispered. She suddenly pushed away from Daryl and walked forward, towards the town. Daryl willingly let this happen, and for a moment just admired the backside of the woman in front of him. She looked over her shoulder and pratically yelled, "Daryl!" Daryl snorted and averted his eyes away from her ass, looking up at her instead.

They walked in silence for a bit, walking hand and hand. Beth looked up at Daryl and asked, "Daryl... am I your.. girlfriend?"

Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "Guess so. What else could I call you?" Beth kept her head low and didn't speak for a minute. "I don't know... friends with benefits I guess." she laughed sadly.

"Oh hell no, girl. I care about you so much more than just for sex." He put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face up to his. "Don't worry, Beth, you are all mine if I am all your's." he kissed her lightly on the lips.

Beth's face burned and she giggled, looking away. "I think I could be ok with that." she smiled. They continued to walk, the town was not much farther. "What about Carol though?" she asked.

"What about her?" he said roughly.

"Well, I know you two kind of had a thing going on back at the prison. To be honest... I was jealous." she said. Daryl chuckled. "People spreading rumors around at the prison, huh?"

Beth shook her head quickly. "No! Well... yes. But I really did thought that."

"Well, there was nothing going on between Carol and I. At least, not for me. Carol was sweet, and I could tell that she was a good person, but Carol... Carol changed after Sophia." he said softly.

"How so?" she asked

"I don't know if I can explain it well.. She was just different. I think she wanted to feel like she was independent, completely free from responsibility. But she let herself go. She didn't take authority well, and she thought she could do whatever she wanted. I found out that she went behind Rick's back about not exposing the children at the prison to weapons. Now, I think Rick was being a little overprotective, and I agree that the children should know how to protect themselves. But Carol did it behind everybody's back. And to me, that's not ok. We have to learn how to listen, and how to cooporate in this world, if we are to survive. Carol put a wedge in that, and it divided us as a whole."

Daryl was quiet for a moment. He was thinking, not sure how to say his words. Beth stayed quiet, and just squeezed his hand.

"She also.. killed those two people." he said. "You know, the first two people to get sick?" Beth nodded in understanding, so he pressed on. "She just.. killed them! Out of cold blood. Who could do something like that?" he asked Beth.

"I couldn't do it." she shook her head. "I never knew it was Carol who did it."

"Yeah, well, she confess to Rick when they left to go out and gather supplies. That's why he left her, he didn't want her to come back and be more of a threat." he said sourly.

"So that's why you didn't like her?" Beth asked.

"Well, after all of that, I didn't have much respect for her. I never liked her romantically, but as a friend, yes I did. I thought I knew her better." Daryl ended his thought quickly, he didn't want to think more about her. Beth seemed to get his hint, so she stopped asking more questions.

They walked up to the outskirts of the town. Daryl pulled a map out of the backpack and stared down at it for a while. He pointed out the drugstore. "Ok, they drugstore is just up the road. Let's get there and be done with this quick." He folded the map back up and stuffed it down in the backpack. They walked up the street, carefully looking around for any walkers or other humans.

"Hey Daryl, look a this!" Beth ran up to a house and jiggled the doorknob.

"Beth, you should'nt run off like that! Jesus, woman!" I complained, walking up behind her. Beth finally loosened the door knob enough and looked around. "Looks clear!" she said.

"Beth, why are you doing this?" I asked, holding the door for her.

"Daryl, this is a fairly nice house. Doesn't look like its been ransacked yet. You go to the drugstore and I'll stay here, looking for anything else. Besides, maybe there is more clothes here.." she giggled.

I rolled my eyes. Damn women... "Fine Beth, but be quick! I'll be just down the street."

"Aye, aye sir!" she saluted and continued to poke around the house. I rolled my eyes again and walked out of the house. Turning right, I walked the short ways to the drugstore. Upon arriving there, I tapped on the glass windows, checking for walkers. None came up to the windows, so I very carefully opened the door and peered in. No walkers to be seen, so I eased my way into the store and began looking around. In the corner of the store, they had some baskets set up in a stack. I reached for a couple of them and started down the aisles. I grabbed some of every canned food I could fine. Then I grabbed some of the boxes of noodles, figuring if we could get some water to boil, we could cook some pasta for our meals. I found some of those damn protein bars and went ahead and grabbed them as well.

In the back, there were packeged bottles of water. I took two from a stack and put them in a stack near the door so I wouldn't forget about them. I also placed the first basket, as it was full, with the stack as well. I went down the next aisle and found some more useful items, like toliet paper and bandages. I stocked in on those. It would be heaven to be able to use toliet paper again.

There wasn't much other useful things down the aisles. I did see some seeds for different kinds of vegatables, and I figured that maybe Beth could farm those, so I went ahead and grabbed a few packets. We wouldn't need all of them at one time. I never saw any gardening tools at the house, so I grabbed a shovel and a hoe and added them and the next basket to my stack.

I grabbed a third basket and wen't to the pharmacy part of the store, which was in the back. Being around Hershal so much, I recognized some of the medicines, like morphine and tylonel. I took some bottles and put it in my basket, and noticed something lying on the counter. It was a box of condoms. I reached out for it and stared at the box. "If things get more heated between Beth and I... this might be really useful." I thought. My heart pounded as I put the box in my basket, and I mechnically started to reach for other things, taking in as much first aid things as I could. I'm not sure why I was so nervous, but being with Beth was so much more different than any other woman I've ever been with. It was so much more.. real.

I checking out all of the contents of my basket when I heard a thumping noise against the wall. I instantly took out my cross bow, setting the basket down at the counter. My first thought was maybe it was another person, beating against the glass like I did to alert any walkers. I ducked down behind the counter and peeked over it, towards the entrance. I didn't see anybody, so I was confused on what that sound was. Maybe it was an animal?

I followed the sound around the store, and realized that it was coming from behind a door, marked as an office. The thumping noise was soft, so I didn't think it was a human. I positioned myself ready, and put my hand on the doorknob. I opened the door quickly, and was ready to shoot. But when I saw the walker, I all but nearly dropped my bow.

The walker slumped against the floor. It was skinny, nearly all bone. It growled softly, not having enough energy to pull itself up. I looked its clothes, it wore very simple materials. It had soft gray hair, very short cut. It didn't look to beat up, other than the skinniness. It did have a bullet hole at the jawline, and a clear bite mark on the shouler. The realization shook me, and I nearly dropped to the floor.

"Nooo... no, fuck, please no.." I cried. The tears flowed freely down, and I dropped to my knees, eye level with the walker. Eye level with... Carol.

She must have got bit at some point. Looks like she escaped, but it was already to late for her. Rick probably gave her the gun to protect herself, but it was the thing that ultimately ended her. Her bite mark was big, it looked like the walker got a huge chunk out of her shoulder. I stared at it, and the longer I stared, the sicker I felt. I started to get horrible flashbacks. That bite mark looks exactly like Sophia's bite mark. Both girls.. the faces horribly iditical, it was almost to much for me to handle. The flash backs came in and out, ravaging my mind. The way Sophia stumbled out of the barn, the way she looked around at the humans around her. The way her body dropped to the ground with Rick's gunshot. Carol tried to crawls towards me, but her feeble body couldn't handle it.

Although the tears were flowing freely, I picked up the cross bow. I leveled it with Carol's forehead, and whispered, "I'm sorry." I shot the bow and the arrow pierced through her skull. Her lifeless body slumped down to the floor. I leaned my head back and tried to stop the crying. I don't know why I was crying so much. I just said I never had feelings for Carol, so that wasn't an option. I guess it's just because of our old friendship, before she left. And those fucking flashbacks.

I stood up and dusted my pants off. I wiped the tears away and grabbed the basket from the counter. I marched over to my stack and began picking shit up. I dumbed the medicine in my backpack and threw the basket back to the corner were it belonged and head outside. I saw Beth running up to me, her face excited.

"Hey Daryl, I found some stuff for us. More food, clothes and even some guns and ammo! Thank god there was a old suitcase for me to pack everything in." She stopped babbling and for the first time noticed my face. "Babe.. what's the matter? Have you been crying?" She touched my face gently.

"Yeah," I said. Beth stroked my face and had a puzzled look of her own. "Why? What happened?" She asked.

"Found Carol." That was all I said.

"Oh.." she whispered. She stood there for a moment and then wrapped her arms around my midsection and hugged me tightly. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"It's whatever. We are together in a unforgiving world, ya know." he shrugged it off. "Come on, let's go home." he grabbed the baskets. "Think you could hold some of this water?" he asked.

"Of course." she said, and she took one of the packages. They walked back home, slower because of their day's spoils. They didn't talk, it took so much energy. It wasn't until they were at least 100 feet from the opening gate when they heard talking. Beth froze, and looked at me with panic in her eyes. I nodded towards the direction of the treeline on the side of the road. We gently placed our spoils behind some trees, keeping it out of view. We slipped behind a rather thick tree and carefully leaned in to hear what was being said.

"You think it's safe?" A woman asked.

"Safe from walkers yeah. But what if somebody else is already here?" the guy in the back of the group said. He looked like a loner.

"This is the safest it will get. We gotta stop somewhere and camp. Brianna can't keep walking like this." A man said, touching the shoulder of a young girl.

"Daaaaddd." The girl moaned. "I'm not a kid anymore, stop it already!" The dad ignored her, and continued to talk to the other adults. Another man wrapped his arm around the woman and said, "It's ok babe. This would be a good place to stay."

"Not if I have anything about it." Daryl muttered. "Beth, stay behind me. And be ready for anything." Daryl came out from behind the tree and walked slowly up to the group. Beth followed at a close range, her hand always on the gun at her hip. When Daryl was about fifteen feet from the group, he called out. "Can we help you?" and pointed the bow straight at the "dad's" face.

The group spun on their heels and the little girl gave a gasp. All of them except the "dad" and the loner guy put their hands in the air, as in a surrender. "Aw, shit." the loner guys muttered.


	9. Chapter 9

New thing I'm adding. I will point out when it is a character's point of view. It won't switch around often, but sometimes switching the point of view refreshes the story a bit :)

Beth's Point Of View:

"Hey hey, now." The outsider said. "Ain't nobody need to get all defensive." He slowly walked up in front of the group, and Daryl aimed his crossbow at his head. The man stopped and put his hands on his hips. "Hey man, no need for the weapons." he said.

"Who are you?" Daryl asked. He kept a tight hold on his bow, and followed the man's moves with his eyes. I put my hand on Daryl's shoulder, a sign for him to be easy.

"James," he replied cooly. "You?"

Daryl stared at him for a moment. "Daryl." he said shortly. James nodded, then glanced at me. "And you?" he smiled polietly. Daryl's muscles tensed, but I squeezed his shoulders and replied, "Beth. Nice to meet you." I smiled back.

We stared at each other for a minute, the air tense. I stepped past Daryl, which I could tell he didn't approve of. I ignored his reaction and asked, "Who are the rest of you?" I hoped my smile was warm enough.

James turned towards his group. He pointed to the "dad". "This is Tanner, and his daughter Brianna." he pointed to the girl, who was standing behind her dad. "I leaned down and said, "Hi there." in a friendly tone. The girl looked up at her dad, then turned at me. "Hi..." she said catiously.

"How old are you? You look like... maybe thirteen?" I guessed. Brianna laughed, and said, "Almost. Twelve actually. I am a bit tall for my age." She crossed her arms on her chest and puffed up proudly.

I laughed. "Nice to meet you. I haven't seen somebody close to my age in a while." I stepped back and faced her father. "And you are Tanner?" I asked, offering my hand.

Tanner looked down at my hand for a minute, then shook it quickly, as if my hand was contatious. "Mmhmm." he murmered. He didn't seem like the one to talk, so I turned to the others. James quickly introduced them; "This is Abigial and Matt. They are a married couple we met when all this shit went down." I nodded my head. "Nice to meet you guys."

"Nice to meet you too." Abigial said quietly.

Matt wrapped his arms around Abigial protectively. "Yeah, it's nice to see some people for a change." He smiled, but it looked a little forced.

I nodded aggreingly. "Yes, it has been a while since we have seen people." I motioned towards Daryl.

"Do you have a place set up?" Matt asked. I couldn't help but to noticed his eyes growing bigger in hopefulness.

I turned to look at Daryl. He gave me a hard look, and then sighed. "Yeah, we do." he admitted. Matt perked up, and I saw James smile. "Where at? If you don't mind me asking." Matt asked.

I motioned down the road. "Just a bit down the road. It's in a subdivision that was gated off. It keeps the walkers out." I said. James whistled. "Man, that sounds nice. We are used to camps. But camps don't have the protectivness as a fence. Could we join you?" Everybody tensed up at the question. I heard Daryl grip his bow tighter, and even I couldn't help but to get a little tensed. "Let me ask Daryl first."

I turned aroud and grabbed Daryl by his arm and dragged him a few steps back. I stared straight at his eyes. "Well? What do you think?" Daryl stood there, biting his lip out of fustration. "I don't know.. they could be useful to have around for.. reasons." he said slowly. "But then again, I would feel somewhat responsible for them... and well.. I like our alone time." he smiled.

I blushed, and hoped that nobody else saw it. "As do I." I agreed. "But they seem nice enough people. And hell, maybe they won't stay around for to long?" I suggested unhopefully.

"Maybe..." Daryl sighed. "Okay, fine, they can stay. But let me talk to them, okay?" He asked. I nodded, and together we walked back to the strangers.

They stared expantly at us. "You decide?" James smiled hopefully. Daryl nodded. "Yeah, we decided." He glanced down at me for a milisecond and then back at them. "You can stay at the subdivision. There are plenty of houses, so if you each wanted a house, you could. After a while of course, some of them need to be cleaned up. Beth and I have killed the walkers that we have found, so hopefully there are no problems there."

James nodded, a happy smile on his face. "Sweet, I can dig that." Abigial and Matt looked at each other, smiling. Brianna squeezed her father's hand and even Tanner was able to smile a bit.

"But, there are rules." Daryl stated. "They aren't to much to ask for." James nodded in understanding. "First, Beth and I are using the first house that you come across. So that one is taken. The second house is cleaned, it was left in a good condition. I suggest you could take that one and share it if you would like."

"Could we have our own bedrooms?" Brianna piped up. I smiled at her. "Yes, there are three bedrooms in the houses. You and your father could share one maybe." I suggested.

"Nah, Tanner snored like a freight train. He can have a bedroom, so Brianna can actually sleep. I'll sleep on a couch." James teased. Tanner smirked and Brianna giggled.

Even Daryl smiled a bit. "Second," he continued. "We have some spare food. You can come by for something for dinner tonight, but you will have to go out and find some food and any other supplies you would like tomorrow. There are several places in town to get more." he motioned backwards. They nodded. "Thank you, we haven't ate much lately." Abigail said.

"And lastly, if you are to stay with us, I would appreciate it if you could help out around the subdivision. The front gate is weak, so we could fix that up better. And maybe help clean the other houses, we have more friends that may find the subdivision. We were seperated, which is a story to be told at another time."

It was quiet for a moment. Then surprisingly, Tanner nodded. "It sounds reasonable. I understand the requests, and I think I could be spokesperson for our group. If the others are on board for it, then we will agree to these conditions. He looked around, and the other's nodded encouarging.

"Well then." I said happily. "Welcome to the family." Daryl rolled his eyes, and then shrugged his bow over his shoulders, and went back for our things.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Beth's Point of View:

I stooped down to pick up our hidden bags. Hunched over, I could feel Daryl's hand crawling up my back. I blushed and wiggled away. "Hey now, none of that. We have company." I glanced up at him, smirking.

He chuckled. "Sorry, couldn't resist." He grabbed his bags and lifted them over his shoulder. He stared at me, and then asked, "Beth? You think this is a good idea?"

I shrugged. "I don't know Daryl." I answered honestly. "If it isn't, well.. we have ways of putting a stop to it. We've dealt with bad people before. Not like we can't do it again." I turned away before he could say anything else. I jogged back to our guests, who were standing uncomfortablely on the side of the road. "Alright guys, first job to do as a group... get these bags back to the houses!" Brianna giggled slighty, and I returned the smile back.

"No problem," James said easily. He hoisted a bag up on his bag and asked, "Where to?"

"Just down the road actually." I answered. He nodded, and the group made their way down the road. Daryl placed himself in the lead, an obvious sign of leadership. I hung back, eager to talk to the new comers.

"So guys... if it isn't much of me to ask, what is your story?" I asked. Nobody said anything for a bit, and just when I was about to apologize, James piped up. "Well, I was a college student at Georgia State. I was going to school for a major in Sociology."

"Sociology?" I said the unfamiliar word. "What is that?"

James smiled. "It is the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society."

"Wow. And here I am, always thinking I would be a farmer's wife and help take care of the farm." I muttered.

"Nothing wrong with that." James laughed. He went back to his story. "I was just about to graduate actually. I couldn't wait, I already had a down payment on my first apartment, a job lined up. Then the world went to shit." He said bitterly.

"I'm sorry. That must suck, to have your future all planned out, for it to only be like this." I gestered around our area. "Thanks," he said. "It's not a big deal though, I will survive." he smiled again.

I nodded. I turned to look at Abigial and Matt, who were walking behind us. "What about you two? What's your story?" I asked.

Abigial looked at Matt, and he looked at her for the tiniest second. Matt coughed. "I met Abbie after all this started. We met in the city, when Atlanta was under military protection. Of course, that didn't last us very long. The city was soon overtook by walkers. We barely escaped." He ended sadly.

Abigial hung her head. "Yeah, it wasn't good." she said. "Neither of our families survived. When we realized that we just had each other, we took the guns we had and left." I could hear the familiar choke in her throat, so I just nodded.

"We met Tanner, Brianna, and James in a camp that was outside of Atlanta. It was mostly surviors from the city. We've been with them ever since." He concluded.

"Sounds like you have a good group then." I smiled. I looked ahead of us. Tanner and Brianna were walking almost behind Daryl. "Tanner? You have a story?" I asked tentaively.

Tanner didn't say anything. Brianna was quiet as well, but then she said, "We lived outside the city. Dad had a job as a tow truck man. I went to school at the jr high. We had a cute little house, we painted it yellow and had lots of flowers in the yard." I smiled. "Sounds cute Brianna. My sister and I planted flowers in our yard too."

"Where is your sister?" She asked curiously. My face fell, and for a moment, I felt the stab of pain in my chest. Daryl looked at me worringly. I shook my head. "Umm.. well Brianna, I don't know. We got split up." I answered simply.

"Is that part of your story?" James asked.

"Yeah..." I said quietly. I took a deep breath. "Well, the original group was a camp outside of Atlanta. We found them in the woods near our farm. The boy of the group was wounded, so my daddy took them in. At first, they weren't going to stay for long. But we became friends, somehow. Then walkers over ran the place, there were hundreds of them. We fled, and ended up in a prison not far from here. We stayed there for a while.. but... it didn't work out." I ended sadly.

"What happened?" Tanner, of all people, asked.

I shook my head. "A very bad man didn't like us. He came to our prison with an army of people and a tank... he killed my father..." I couldn't finished. I was choking up on tears. Suddenly I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, and I smelled the familiar musky scent of Daryl surround me. He pulled me close to his chest and held me there.

"Hey, it's ok, we don't need to hear anymore." James said consolonling. He tried to put his hand on my back, but Daryl shot him a deadly look and he backed up.

I pulled myself together. I shouldn't loose it, these people might think we were crazy or something. "No, I'm sorry. It just happened a week or so ago. It's hard to get over it." I said. "Come on, the road is right up here. We turned on to our road and marched up the gravel driveway. We all took turned squeezing through the space inbetween the broken gate, and continued on our way.

Daryl coughed. "This is our house," He pointed to the first little yellow house. "I figured you guys would want that one, the little white one, with the green trim. It's cleaned up."

James nodded excitingly. "Sweet, I can hear that couch calling my name!" Brianna giggled again, and we stopped at Daryl and my place. We set the bags down. "Okay," I said with authority. "You guys go ahead to your house. Daryl and I will take this stuff in our place, and we will get some dinner going for you guys. Clean up, and you can have dinner with us tonight. Sound good?" I asked.

Everybody nodded. "Awesome, see you guys in a bit." I smiled. The new group marched down the driveway, and Daryl and I climbed up the porch steps with our bags of goodies.


End file.
